Resilience among Undergraduate First-Year Students: The Differential Effects of Gender, and Socioeconomic Status

Resilience, as a multidimensional psychological construct, may vary with respect to personal characteristics such as gender and social context like socio-economic status, particularly in the Indian context. The researchers aim to explore the effects of gender (male and female) and socioeconomic status (low, moderate & high) on resilience and further investigate whether the effect of gender is independent of different levels of SES. The quantitative survey study included 490 first-year undergraduates (M = 18.97, SD = .83) from three districts of West Bengal. The questionnaire comprised socio-demographic data and the adapted Bengali version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The results showed that male students reported a significantly higher level of resilience than female students, with an effect size accounting for approximately 2% of the variance which is considered a “small” effect size. Additionally, the effect of SES was also small, explaining 1.5% of the variance in resilience. Tukey’s HSD showed a significant mean difference only between the high and moderate SES groups. Moreover, the interaction between gender and SES was insignificant implying that the effect of gender on resilience was independent of SES or vice versa. It was suggested that gender-specific interventions focusing on strengthening resilience and promoting social support are needed for first-year college students.